During a meeting held at the White House on Thursday, Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States, met with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. This encounter comes as a clear indication that the Biden administration is positioning Ms Harris to manage a diplomatically sensitive relationship if she achieves victory in the upcoming November election.
This meeting was scheduled shortly after the $8 billion (around €7 billion) military support to revolution-torn Ukraine was declared by President Biden. Since Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ms Harris and Mr Zelenskiy have held meetings six times.
In her address at the White House, Ms Harris affirmed, “We will ensure Ukraine triumphs in this war”. She also commented that Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president could halt the conflict immediately.
Critiquing proponents of a territory-for-peace arrangement for Ukraine as being amenable to “surrender’, she indirectly took a swipe at her political adversary, Donald Trump, and his known scepticism concerning aid to Ukraine.
She underscored the significance of the Ukrainian conflict to Americans, characterising it as a situation with intense implications that should be heeded by Americans.
She highlighted that the US has had its finest historical moments when it confronted aggressors such as Putin. Additionally, she cautioned that Putin’s ambition would not rest with Ukraine, suggesting his potential interest in NATO territories if he achieves his goals.
Ms Harris argued vociferously that US should not seek to isolate itself from global issues, saying that isolation isn’t a protective mechanism.
After jointly addressing the public for approximately nine minutes, neither Ms Harris nor Zelenskiy took questions from the press.
Prior to the election, no more meetings with key allies are planned for Ms Harris, as advised by her team. This is a strong indication that she will be shifting her energy to campaigning in key states and addressing issues that voters have identified as pivotal in deciding the election outcome- economy, abortion, and migration.
On the other hand, former president, Mr Trump, has utilized campaign events to express his involvement in international matters, often diverging from the topic to nurse grudges or to launch criticisms at perceived rivals.
As he spoke this Wednesday in North Carolina in a speech that was touted to be based on the economy, he dedicated most of the speech to claim to his supporters that Iran could be linked to two assassination attempts on him, despite US officials asserting that there’s no evidence to make such a connection.
On Thursday, Mr Trump announced that he would have a meeting with Mr Zelenskiy, as per the latter’s request, at Trump Tower in Manhattan the following morning. During an event on Wednesday, Mr Trump took some time to comment on the conflict in Ukraine, expressing criticisms towards Mr Zelenskiy for making slight unpleasant insinuations about him and he openly wondered why Ukraine did not surrender territory to the Russian usurpers. Mr Trump stated that if a poor bargain had been made, it would have been more beneficial. The Ukrainian leader, in his view, should have conceded some ground, ensuing peace and allowing construction and preservation of structures for another two millennia. The original source of this information is The New York Times.